Smallpox Eradication: A Global Appraisal

ABSTRACT

OF ALL communicable diseases limited to man, few have the attainable prospect of complete and permanent eradication. Of those few, smallpox has provoked the greatest interest. In 1801, Jenner1 entertained the prospect of eradication soon after demonstrating the efficacy of vaccination in protecting the susceptible individual. Despite the early and continuing interest in this possibility and the control or even successful eradication in some individual countries, the first systematic international program was proposed in 1949 by Soper,2 then director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau. Failure of the individual country efforts and increasing incidence of disease in the Americas facilitated the adoption and implementation of a resolution to approve such a program. Budgetary provision was made in 1950 by the 13th Pan American Sanitary Conference.3,4

The lessons learned in this and in the subsequent global program are important in understanding the success in the imminent total global eradication

Purchase Options

Figures

Tables

References

Letters

The American Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The AMA designates this journal-based CME activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM per course. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with
the extent of their participation in the activity. Physicians who complete the CME course and score at least 80% correct on the quiz are eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.

This feature is provided as a courtesy. By using it you agree that that you are requesting the material solely for personal, non-commercial use, and that it is subject to the AMA's Terms of Use. The information provided in order to email this article will not be shared, sold, traded, exchanged, or rented. Please refer to The JAMA Network's Privacy Policy for additional information.

Athens and Shibboleth are access management services that provide single sign-on to protected resources. They replace the multiple user names and passwords necessary to access subscription-based content with a single user name and password that can be entered once per session. It operates independently of a user's location or IP address. If your institution uses Athens or Shibboleth authentication, please contact your site administrator to receive your user name and password.